Planting mechanism.



C. G. STRANDLUND.

PLANTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-1|.l9l4.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

c. e. STBANDLUND. PLANTING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED NOV-11.1914

1 ,6,4%& Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z- m mu m Mac was 1:": ms mmmu: munnmumum. ummmamu m c X i; lll l i 11:01

CARL e. STRANDLUND, or MOLINE, InLIivois, jii'ssieivon 'ro mam-35a coMrAn or ivronrnn, rnnrnors, A conronaunon or ILLINOIS; v

Lesa aria.

To all whomct may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL G. S'rn nnnUNn.

a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island: and

State ofIllinois; have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Planting Meehanisms, of which the followingisa specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

l The invention relates especially to the seeder mechanism which serves to separate the seeds to be planted fromthe general mass of seeds in a hopper, to count the seeds and to deliver them, one by 0I1B,ll0 a suitable dropping mechanism. a i

The object of the invention is to provide a seeder mechanism which can be readily modified to adapt it for the planting of corn or forthe planting of other smallerfseeds. When corn is to be planted the corn kernels are separated from the general mass of ker nels and are receivedby the counting devices in vertical edgewise positions. When other seeds are to be planted which are more nearly spherical inshape and smaller in size they are received in small cells each adapted to holdone or more seeds. Stated more specifically, the object of theinven ti on is to provide a mechanism adapted to receive a relatively thick seed plateadapted for the edgewise selection of cornkernels or to receive a relatively thin seed plate adapted for the selectionof smaller spherical seeds; and to provide a knock-ouudevice adapted to enter the cells ofthethick plate. to eject the kernels therefrom, or to ride over the topsof the cellsof the thin plate to jprevent more than a singlekernel from enter ng or from remaining in the cell.

shown only those parts e f-the mechanism which are essential for an understanding of my present invention; and it will be under? Fig. 3 is a side elevation of filler plate intended to bewused in combi- In the accompanying drawings I have f speeifie atienlof warmes ie t t d D ng, 19in. Applicationfiled November 11,1914. Seria1No.8"71,570

:Fig. 7iisa view similar to Fig. 3,but

showing a thin seed plate instead of a thick seed plate; i

Fig- 8 is a plan view of the thin seed plate-shown inFigs. 6 and? l a K Fig. 9 is a side viewof the thin seed plate; Fig. 10 is a plan view of a supplemental nation :with the thin seed plate;

. Fig. 11 is a 'side view of the filler plate. i

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the base castingcwhich is secured to the main frameworlrof the planter and which serves to supportthe parts of the seeder rnechanism to which the invention especially relates. Thercasting lis provided with an upward projecting circular boss 2, upon which there is iournaled bevel gear 3. This gear meshes with the bevel pinion i on a trans verse seeder shaft "The gear 3 is held in place on the casting bymeansof a suitable ca p plate 6.

isthe hopperbase ring which is pivmeans of a horizontal pintle pin 8 extending 9o otally mounted on thebase casting'l by p through apertures in ears 9 and 10, secured respectively, to thecastings 1 and .7. Also pivoted onthe pin 8*by means Tof cars 11 is a supporting plate 12 which can be releas ably-locked to the hopper base ring T by means of the spring clip 12. i

a Supported on the ring 7 is ;a capplate 1B vvhich covers the entire central partof the mechanism, but is separated from the ring 7* along; the a greater 1 part of "the periphery.

Theplateliis connected with thewring'iat one side by means ofabridge 14 and at the other side is extended at 15 to directly ens gagethering'. l6wis thehoppenprbper which restson the ring 7 and engages the edge parts of the plate 13. 1 The. hopper is heldrin place onthe The cap plate 13 is provided at its center with a depending circular boss 18 and on this boss there is journaled the seed plate driver 19. The driver is held in place by means of the washer 20, which is secured to the boss 18 by means of the bolt 21. The driver 19 is provided with depending lugs 22 adapted to engage and cooperate with upstanding lugs 23 on the drive gear 3. The driver 19 is provided with notches 24 adapted to receive lugs formed on the seed plate and to be referred to below.

25 represents the seed plate or ring which is adapted to. lie between the supporting plate 12 and the cap plate 13, and to surround the driver 19. The plate is provided with inward projecting lugs 26 adapted to enter the notches 24 in the driver. It will be seen that the plate can be driven in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 41 by means of power initially applied to the seeder shaft 5. The power is transmitted from the shaft 5 to the pinion 4 and the gear 3, and thence to the driver-19 and the plate 25. The plate is provided at its periphery with aplurality of similar equally spaced. outward projecting teeth 27, 27 between which there are formed'see'd cells 28, 28. The teeth project upward above the top surface of the body part of the plate.v The outer walls of the cells 28, '28 are formed by the inner surface of the hopper base ring 7. Each cell is of such-a size and shape as to be adapted to receive a single kernel of corn on edge with its longitudinal axis horizontal. The walls of the plate 13 and of the ring 7 are oppositely inclined above the plate so as to provide a downward narrowing channel adapted to guide the seeds and assist their movements into proper positions in the cells.

The plate 13 is provided with an upstanding wall 29 along the part of its periphery adjacent the aforesaid extension at 15. This wall serves as apart of the housing for the cut-off and knock-out devices to be described. The housing .is made complete by the cover 30, which is detachably held in place by means of the bolt 30. Mounted within the housing is the vibratable cut-ofi' device 31, which is supported on trunnions 32. A spring 33 tends to hold the device always in its lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 3. When in this position the device is adapted to engage any seeds which may be supported on top-ofthe seed plate or partlyentered into'the cells thereof. This device prevents any of the seeds not fully entered in the cells from passing onward to the place of discharge.

341 is the knock-out device vibratably mounted in the housing by means of the trunnions 35,. 35. A spring 36 serves to press the device downward and to force it into each cell as it comes into register.

the device enters the cell it forces the con tained seed downward therefrom. The supporting plate 12 and the supporting casting l are provided with registering openings to permit the seed to pass downward to suitable valve device which are not shown, as they of themselves constitute no part of the present invention.

Figs. 6 and 7, for the most part, show the same mechanism shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and a repetitionof the detailed description will not be necessary. Instead of the thick seed plate 25 there is provided a relatively thin seed plate 37 and a blank filler plate 38. The filler plate rests directy on the supporting plate 12 and is provided with an aperture 39 which registers with the aforesaid apertures in the plate 12 and the casting 1 for the passage of seeds to the dropping mechanism. The plate 38 is provided with a boss 40 which engages the ring 7 to prevent the plate from turning.

The seed plate or ring 37 has approximately the same inner and outer diameters as the plate 25, and is similarly provided,

with lugs 26 to engage with the driver 19.

The plate is of the same thickness throughout and is provided near its periphery with horizontally inclosed seed cells 41, which are preferably circular. cell diverges downward, that is, each cell is larger at its bottom than at its top. Each of the cells 41 is adapted to hold a single seed of relatively large size, as, for instance, a pea, or, when smaller seeds, such as broom corn kernels, are to be planted, each cell may hold two or three, according to the size of the seeds.

As shown in Fig. 7, the cutoff device 31 is so limited as to it's downward movement as to be inoperative when the thin plate 37 is in use. The knock-out device 34- is much larger than the cells 411 and therefore can not enter them as it did the cells 28 in the plate 25. The device 34: therefore serves as a brush or cut-off device when the plate 37 is in use and acts to prevent more than a. single kernel from entering a single cell and being discharged. The diverging sides of the cells 11 insure the discharge of the seeds therefrom by gravity without the action of any positive ejecting device.

It will be understood that the device 34. is yieldable upward under the action of the spring 36 so that it will permit the passage without crushing of any seeds which may project upward out of the cells slightly above the top of the plate.

lVith the parts described I provide for planting either of two very different kinds of seeds though retaining the saline hopper and bottom structure, and the same seedplate-cham'ber as concerns parts and dimensions. This.co1nmon chamber has a bottom plate support 12, ,an upper holder for, the

Preferably also each.

plate provided by the cap plate 13 and its down-turned flanges, and an annular edge holder provided by the lower portion of the part 7 These are fixed in their relations to each other so that to interchange plates it is merely necessary to throw the hopper back on its hinge and take out the integral seed plate having deep through cells 28 and insert the two-part plate 87,. 38, and again The two-part plate fits snugly but loosely in the sameuplate chamclose the hopper.

ber and contacts with the bottom support, the upper holder and the annular holder exactly as the integral plate contacted there with. The thickness dimension of the composite plate 37, 38, is exactly the same along the lines of contact, with the upperholder.

normally lies within these cells) is of such cross-area that it -cannot enter the smaller cells, and is so positioned as to merely cover them at the times When the seeds are dropping freely from the downwardly flared apertures.

What ll claim is; i

1. In a planting mechanism, a hopper, a bottom structure with a seed-plate-chamber of fixed dimensions having a bottom support an upper holder and an annular edge holder for a seed plate and adapted to re tain loosely a detachable integral solidseed plate with relatively deep through cellsholding corn kernels edgewise, a cut-0E normally held positively against descent below a fixed Copies of this patent may beobtain ed for a horizontal plane, and a knock-out normally in horizontal planes below the tops of said cells, in combination with a two-part seed plate device having an upper rotary element below said plane of the cut-ofi and formed with shallow cells of less cross-area than the knock-out and having a lower nonrotary elementwith a cell closing surface above the plane of the bottoms of the deep cells, the said two-part seed plate being adapted to fit in the said seed-plate-chamher and to looselycontact with the said plate I support and plate holders.

2. In a planting mechanism, a hopper,a

bottom structure with a seedeplate-chamber I having a bottom plate support and an upper holder fora seed plate, the support and uholder being normally at a fixed distance apart and said chamber being adapted to retain loosely a detachable integral solid seed plate with deep through cells for holding corn kernels edgewise, a cut-off normally held positively against descent below the relatively high horizontal plane of the top edges of the corn kernels, and a knockout dimensioned to enterand be normally *positioned in and below the tops of sa d seed cells, in combination with a withdrawing and discharging device for small seeds having a thin rotary plate with shallow through cells of less cross-area than the knock-out and a device for elevating said thin plate and holding its upper surface close to the plate holder abovesaid chamber and With the upper ends of the cells ma horizontal plane below that where the cutoff is positively stopped. I

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

CARL Gr. STRANDLUND.

Witnesses:

Jnssm SIMsEn, W. G. D FFIELD.

Washington, D. G. 

